More than 3,000 rescue workers descended on a Sichuan Province town Saturday where more than 100 people were buried in a landslide.

The rescue effort faced serious challenges.

CGTN’s Yang Jinghao reports from the site.

The landslide struck the village of Xinmo around dawn on Saturday, burying more than 40 homes. Authorities said 118 people were missing and 15 people were confirmed dead.

“According to geological experts, the chance of survival for the buried is very slim,” said Wang Minghui, deputy governor of Sichuan Province. “To avoid subsequent damage, large-scale deep excavation will not be conducted during the operations. But we will still try our best to save any possible survivors.”

The biggest difficulty is the sheer volume of the landslide. One official estimated that three million cubic meters of mud and rocks covered the area in a matter of moments after a heavy rainfall.